An industrial gas turbine includes a combustor formed by a circular array of combustion chambers, which are also referred to as combustion cans. Each chamber has an end cover that includes openings which receive fuel by way of a dedicated flexible hose. The flexible hoses are, in turn, attached to a manifold that supplies the fuel to the system.
By contorting the flexible hoses, the flexible hoses are able to account for some positional tolerances between the manifold outlets and the combustion chamber openings. However, the flexibility of each hose is limited by the properties of the material from which the hose is formed. In addition, the thickness and diameter of the hose may further limit the flexibility of the hose.
If the positional tolerances between the manifold outlets and the combustion chamber openings are too great, the flexibility of the hose might be enough to avoid a mismatch. When there is a mismatch, the hose might not be able to provide a sufficient connection with the combustion chamber and/or the piping manifold. When a mismatch is unavoidable, a new flexible hose or an adaptor may need to be ordered, thereby increasing the amount of time needed to bring the gas turbine online. Alternatively, the mismatched flexible hose may be forced into the desired connection, thereby resulting in undesired end angles in the flexible hose, which could lead to suboptimal performance of the combustion chamber and/or flexible hose. The undesired end angles may also lead to premature hose wear and/or hose failure.
Thus, there is a long felt need for a more adaptable flexible hose capable of handling any mismatch between the manifold and the combustion chamber openings.